NWFSC Alert Frequently Asked Questions (scroll down)

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1 Northwest Florida State College has implemented important upgrades to the college s comprehensive safety plan. Now included in the NWFSC Alert s ys t em is a new component to reach students and staff with emergency information and updates through automatic phone calls, s and/or text messages issued by the college. Those who wish to receive NWFSC Alert messages by automatic notification to NW FSC accounts, phone and/or text messages MUST SIGN UP FOR THIS FREE SERVICE THROUGH THE COLLEGE S RAIDERNET SYSTEM. If you do not opt-in to the expanded NWFSC Alert system, you will not receive important NWFSC Alert messages to your personally selected contact list. This new personal notification component to the NWFSC Alert system is operated through the Connect- ED communication service from Blackboard Connect Inc. and was selected by the college because of its successful nationwide track record and multi-modal capabilities. The expanded system allows the college to keep students and staff better informed in emergency situations through immediate, direct communications to phone numbers and e-addresses personally chosen by the recipient. Campus leaders can now schedule, send, and track personalized voice messages to up to six phone numbers per student and staff member, and immediately send messages via four different modes of communication: Voice messages to home phones, work phones, cell phones, and NW FSC addresses Text messages to cell phones, PDAs, and other text-based devices Text messages to NWFSC accounts Messages to TTY/TDD receiving devices for the hearing impaired STUDENTS: To make sure you receive any important messages sent via the expanded NWFSC Alert system, you must opt-in to the Connect-ED database via your RaiderNet student account and you must maintain your most current contact information in your NWFSC Alert file. It is your responsibility to maintain the accuracy of the information and to provide your preferred contact information so that you can be reached in the event of an emergency! If you wish others, such as a parent, guardian or spouse to receive NWFSC Alert messages these numbers may be added to your emergency contact list. The more means we have to contact individuals, the better we can provide timely information and updates. NWFSC Alert Frequently Asked Questions (scroll down)

2 What is NWFSC Alert? NWFSC Alert is Northwest Florida State College s total Emergency Notification System which uses a variety of methods, including the new personal notification system and other means, to distribute vital information. In a campus emergency, NWFSC will use several information delivery methods to reach you because, at any given time, one form of communications might be better to reach you than another. NWFSC Alert will deliver messages using some or all of the following methods: Postings to the Northwest Florida State College homepage ( Broadcast s to all nwfsc.edu accounts Messages on the college switchboard ( ) NWFSC Alert Personal notification via the new Connect-ED component Voice messages sent via the campus fire alarm system Messages sent to area media outlets Posting on college electronic reader boards When and under what circumstances will the college use NWFSC Alert? NWFSC Alert will be activated: When there is a required near term action on the part of the college community such as: Sheltering from a storm Cancelling classes on short notice (such as due to a power outage or storm) A dangerous situation on campus that could impinge on personal safety either locally or generally such as a chemical spill, bomb threat, or health emergency When the college administration or local first responders determines there is an immediate threat to the college community by the presence of certain persons or when the timeliness of the notice may assist in locating an offender Will I automatically receive emergency notification or do I have to do something? All NWFSC Alert emergency communications are available to you without registering for them, except for the Connect-ED service. To receive automatic phone, text and/or other notification through the new NWFSC Alert database you must OPT-IN to the service via your RaiderNet account.

3 How do I receive personalized notifications from NWFSC Alert through Connect-ED? The NW FSC Connect-ED emergency notification system component is a subscriber-only feature of NWFSC Alert that allows you to receive urgent notifications where and how you want. NW FSC Connect-ED allows you to list up to six personal contact methods. YOU MUST SUBSCRIBE/SIGN-UP TO NW FSC Connect-ED IN ORDER TO RECEIVE EMERGENCY NOTIFICATIONS THROUGH THIS METHOD! To sign up, you need to login to your college RaiderNet account and subscribe to the free NW FSC Connect-ED service. You will be guided step-by-step through the subscription process. You can log back into the system at anytime to change or add contact information. You must have an NW FSC RaiderNet account and be an active faculty, staff or student, in order to subscribe. How will I know the message on my personal phone, text or is from NWFSC Alert? The message sender will appear as follows: For a text message: For an [email protected] Phone messages will begin with This is from Northwest Florida State College with an NWFSC Alert Will I receive duplicate emergency notification messages? Yes, NWFSC Alert uses multiple channels to deliver urgent information. You should expect to receive duplicate messages. This redundancy is intentional to ensure important information reaches as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time. Contact information included in the expanded NWFSC Alert system will ONLY be used for campus emergency and similar notifications so students and staff will know that when an NWFSC Alert message is issued it is vital to read/access the message. What about the privacy of my personal contact information? PRIVACY NOTICE: Neither the college or Blackboard Connect Inc. sells, leases, shares, nor rents personally identifiable information (names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.) to any companies or persons outside of Blackboard or its service providers. The contact information will only be utilized by the college for necessary communication via NWFSC Alert Does NWFSC test NWFSC Alert? Yes, the college will test all emergency notification channels of NWFSC Alert at least once each fall and spring semester. The college community will be informed when each test is scheduled. How will I know the difference between a test message and a real urgent message? When testing NWFSC Alert, college administrators will always include in the subject line or the message a clear statement that the message is a test. Urgent messages will carry subject lines such as Emergency Alert, Weather Alert, or Campus Advisory.

4 When will my subscription to the personal alerts from NW FSC Connect-ED end? All students who are graduating or who otherwise will no longer be a Northwest Florida State College student are asked to unsubscribe to NWFSC Connect-ED. By unsubscribing, you will help the system deliver messages to those who truly need to receive information when messages are sent. Accounts will be deactivated if a student has not registered for classes after three continuous semesters - - e.g., fall, spring, and summer. Any student can activate or reactivate their account upon registering for classes in any semester. You will NOT be notified when your subscription is deactivated. You may access your RaiderNet account to determine the current status of your subscription. What contact information should I use for NW FSC Connect-ED? Since this will be a means to notify you in an emergency situation, we strongly recommend that you provide personal contact information for YOU, the subscriber. Consider using methods of contact that you check frequently. What are the consequences of deciding NOT to subscribe to NWFSC Connect-ED? If you choose not to subscribe to NW FSC Connect-ED, you will not be able to receive urgent information to your cell phone or other telephone numbers. However, you will still receive information from all other emergency notification channels used for NWFSC Alert. How is my contact information updated for NWFSC Connect-ED? You are responsible for making all updates or changes to your contact information. NW FSC does not update your information from other sources. Individual subscribers MUST update their contact information through RaiderNet. It is especially important to change your contact information when you change cell phone carriers or if you change your phone number. Having the right personal contact information in the system is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. Does NWFSC correct my personal contact information when it is wrong? No. NW FSC will not verify the accuracy of the data you enter. If you enter inaccurate contact data, the data will remain inaccurate until it is changed by you. Does NWFSC use NW FSC Connect-ED contact data to update other college s ys tem s? Yes. The contact data you provide will update information stored in your RaiderNet account and associated NWFSC systems. Will my contact information be shared with anyone? The contact data you enter will be provided to a third party vendor, Blackboard Connect, Inc., for purposes of notifying you in the event of an emergency. Blackboard Connect, Inc. does not sell, lease, share, or rent personally identifiable information (names, addresses, phone numbers, etc) to any companies or persons outside of Blackboard or its service providers. Is there a charge for subscribing to receive messages via NWFSC Connect-ED?

5 All NWFSC Alert communication, including subscription to personal notification via Connect-ED is free to all students, faculty and staff. The college does not charge the subscriber a fee. Whether you are charged for text messages received through NWFSC Connect-ED will depend on the terms of your contract with your service provider (i.e. if your service provider contract charges you for all incoming text messages or in-coming phone calls to your cell phone, your service provider will charge you to receive NWFSC Alert messages just the same as any other text or phone message). Frequently Asked Questions about SMS/Text Messaging How do I opt-in to receive text messages from NWFSC Alert? Entering a text-enabled telephone number in the Cell Phone field of the RaiderNet NWFSC Alert Opt-in screen will register your phone to receive text message alerts in addition to the standard voice message alerts (note: you must also check the appropriate Select for Alert box). What happens after I sign up (opt-in) for text messaging? After you sign up online, the Connect-ED service will automatically send a text message to your mobile phone to confirm your request. This occurs between Noon and 8pm CST. If I sign up at night, when will I receive the confirmation message? The confirmation messages are sent during business hours Noon and 8pm CST. Since we upload data into Connect-ED nightly you should expect the confirmation request to arrive the following day. What will the confirmation message say? The confirmation message will read the following: NWFSC Alert: You are now confirmed to receive alerts from us. More info text reply "HELP" or "STOP NW FSC" to opt-out.

6 What if I type back HELP? If you type back HELP, you will receive the message: NTI alert notifications. Users will receive relevant alerts as needed. For more info or [email protected]. To opt-out text STOP NWFSC" From what number will these text messages display? You will see as the text messaging number sending you the confirmation message and all subsequent messages. Please save this number and program it as NWFSC Alert so that you can quickly recognize this number as the official source of Northwest Florida State College s messages. I did not receive a confirmation message. What happened? Please check with your mobile phone provider to find out if your device accepts text messages. You may also want to check with your provider to see if text messaging has been enabled. You may need to subscribe to a text messaging plan in order to receive or reply to text messages. I did not receive a confirmation message because my phone wasn t text enabled. I have since contacted my mobile phone provider to enable it. Do I need another confirmation message sent? No. If your SMS phone was already submitted to our database, you should be confirmed to receive SMS alerts from us. However, you may also test to find out by texting the word SUBSCRIBE to and you will receive a reply with the following: NWFSC Alert: This phone number has already been opted in. More info text reply "HELP" or "STOP NW FSC" to opt-out How do I opt-out? You may opt-out at any time by texting STOP NW FSC" or QUIT NW FSC" to What if I opted-out but later decide I would like to opt-in again? You may request to begin receiving text messages by texting SUBSCRIBE NWFSC" to If I change mobile phone providers but keep the same number, do I need to opt-in again? No. Once your phone number has been opted-in, it stays registered within the system. What if my information is not registered with the school, but I want to receive alerts anyway? Can I text to SUBSCRIBE NWFSC and still receive messages? No, you will not receive messages. If you are not part of the school s contact database, and you try to subscribe, you will receive the message: You have not followed the Opt-In/Out process correctly. More info text HELP or go to